Thursday, June 17, 2010

How was your vacation?

That was what my friends asked me after I came back from my trip.

What you would answer for any trip would very much depend on what your objective of the trip was.

Previously, I would have evaluated my trip on how much we managed to see, do, experience, and whether we paid more than necessary. Also, whether the weather was good, whether we encountered any difficulties during the trip. It depends a lot on your expectations of the trip.

However, now with children, I look for different things on a vacation. Firstly , how the kids got along on the trip - eg whether the trip helped them to bond, how much quarrellings or fighting there was on the trip compared to any ordinary day. Whether the children learned anything from the trip. And most importantly - was the food good?

So what was my answer for this trip?

Excellent! Why? because I saw my children really bonding with each other, co-operating, and there was hardly a fight with each other. The first leg of the trip in Kyoto, saw my two older ones sharing a room, and for the second leg, the oldest and youngest in the same room. And they got along wonderfully with each other taking turns to shower, not fighting over the TV channels, etc

I was expecting some grumblings from the children over the number of temples and shrines we visited whilst in Kyoto. But there was not a single grumble! In fact, they told us that they enjoyed the temple/shrine visits .... and they want to do it again!!

And food wise - it couldnt have been better. Not when hubby planned the itinerary based on this book:

Well, you will have to wait to see my photos. I need to get back to routine before I have time to write my report!

Yay, i'm glad you all have a great time of bonding while on holiday! which also means... must holiday more, YAY!

i'm looking fwd to seeing your pictures, but totally understand that your normal work beckons :) thanks for popping by, abt my trip back, it may or may not happen, i will keep u posted! have a great rest of the school hols with the children!

Yeah. Objective really depends if the trip is with or without children. We look for different things when children are involved. But one common thing between with and without children is that the food must be GOOD!!!